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Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian

CVE-2017-7779

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-06-11
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 52.3.0 / 55.0 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Memory safety bugs were reported in Firefox 54, Firefox ESR 52.2, and Thunderbird 52.2. Some of these bugs showed evidence of memory corruption and we presume that with enough effort that some of these could be exploited to run arbitrary code. This vulnerability affects Thunderbird < 52.3, Firefox ESR < 52.3, and Firefox < 55.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

Multiple memory safety bugs in the Gecko rendering engine of Firefox, Firefox ESR, and Thunderbird allowed memory corruption that could potentially be exploited for arbitrary code execution. The vulnerabilities stem from unspecified memory handling issues in versions prior to the fixed releases.

MitigationUpgrade affected installations to Firefox >= 55, Firefox ESR >= 52.3, or Thunderbird >= 52.3 to patch the memory safety vulnerabilities.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 8.0= 9.0
Enterprise Linux DesktopOperating system
Affected:= 6.0= 7.0
Enterprise Linux ServerOperating system
Affected:= 6.0= 7.0
Enterprise Linux Server AusOperating system
Affected:= 7.4
Enterprise Linux Server EusOperating system
Affected:= 7.4= 7.5
Enterprise Linux WorkstationOperating system
Affected:= 6.0= 7.0
FirefoxWeb browser
Affected:< 55.0< 52.3.0
ThunderbirdApplication
Affected:< 52.3.0

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify installed Mozilla products
    Check if Firefox, Firefox ESR, or Thunderbird is installed by looking for their executables or checking system package managers. On Windows, check Program Files for 'Mozilla Firefox' or 'Mozilla Thunderbird' folders. On Linux, use 'dpkg -l' or 'rpm -qa' to list installed packages containing 'firefox' or 'thunderbird'.
    Affected if Any of Firefox (any channel), Firefox ESR, or Thunderbird is installed on the system
  2. Determine Firefox version
    On Windows, right-click the Firefox executable, select Properties, and check the Details tab for the version. On Linux, run 'firefox --version' or check the package with 'dpkg -l | grep firefox' or 'rpm -qa | grep firefox'. For ESR, the package name typically contains 'esr'.
    Affected if Firefox version is less than 55.0 (for standard release) or less than 52.3 (for ESR)
  3. Determine Thunderbird version
    On Windows, right-click the Thunderbird executable, select Properties, and check the Details tab. On Linux, run 'thunderbird --version' or check the package with 'dpkg -l | grep thunderbird' or 'rpm -qa | grep thunderbird'.
    Affected if Thunderbird version is less than 52.3.0
  4. Check Red Hat or Debian Linux package versions
    If the system uses RPM (Red Hat-based), run 'rpm -qa' and filter for firefox or thunderbird packages to get exact versions. If using DEB (Debian-based), run 'dpkg -l' and check for the installed version numbers listed.
    Affected if The installed package version matches one of the vulnerable Debian (8.0 or 9.0) or Red Hat Enterprise Linux (6.x or 7.x) versions specified

A system is affected if it has any installed version of Firefox below 55.0 (or below 52.3 for ESR) or Thunderbird below 52.3.0, or runs the specific vulnerable Red Hat or Debian Linux distributions listed.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 52.3.0 / 55.0 or later
Fixed in 52.3.055.0
Interim mitigation

Upgrade affected installations to Firefox >= 55, Firefox ESR >= 52.3, or Thunderbird >= 52.3 to patch the memory safety vulnerabilities.

Recommended fix High confidence

Firefox 55.0+, Firefox ESR 52.3+, Thunderbird 52.3+

  1. 1. Close all instances of Firefox, Firefox ESR, or Thunderbird
  2. 2. For Firefox: Navigate to https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/ and download version 55.0 or later
  3. 3. For Firefox ESR: Navigate to https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/enterprise/ and download version 52.3 or later
  4. 4. For Thunderbird: Navigate to https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/ and download version 52.3 or later
  5. 5. Run the installer and follow the prompts to complete the upgrade
  6. 6. Restart the application and verify the version under Help > About
Caveat Minor add-on compatibility changes may occur; verify critical extensions work after upgrade

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Debian Linux Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,040
Get the upgrade done

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2017-7779 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data